War of Hearts

Chapter Twenty-Three - Precious Cargo

Two days later

"All teams, eyes on target. Phase one complete."

"Charlie copies. We're set."

"Roger that. Moving to Phase two."

Three soldiers in dive gear surfaced outside a fortified oceanside prison. The water was ice cold and violent, agitated by the storm above. It provided the perfect cover for them to advance.

It wasn't long before their three teams were in position. Alpha team peered down the descending tunnel of cells below. The Guards were patrolling through the many flights of stairs, and in and out of the control tower in the middle. "All stations, let's roll thunder. Charlie, pull the plug."

"Rog – Blackout in Three...Two...One... Execute."

In a chain from the bottom cells up, all the lights shut off as Alpha team clipped in and descended down the massive opening to the deeper floors. The only light remaining was the spark of gunfire in the control room as Charlie and Bravo teams took over. Down and down they went into the deepest sublevel of the prison. They unclipped and proceeded to breach an isolated cell where a lone prisoner was smoking in the dark corner. A small explosion shattered the cell door lock mechanism, and the soldiers moved in.

"Alpha's on target, standby."

One of them popped a flare and threw it towards the man, allowing his face to come into focus. "All stations, positive ID on prisoner 627."

The Alpha team leader approached the prisoner slowly, caution in every step. He reached out with an anxious but resolute grip on a vest and gun. "Good to see you again, my friend. Your plan was perfect."

"Plans depend on execution," he replied with a wicked, wretched smile, "this is only the beginning."

"What you've accomplished from this cell..."

He laughed, "tip of the iceberg." He reached out for a radio and connected it to his ear. "All stations, this is your commander, call sign Czar-9-0 actual...I have the comm. Move to Phase three. Out."

Three vehicles pulled up to the gated entrance of an Urzikstan port. The night was calm, almost eerily quiet. Farah stepped out and whistled to her team leaders as she exited and made her way to the front. "Shadow-1 to Kilo Actual, At the port now. Will confirm when cargo is in my possession, stand by."

"Roger that, Kilo."

Her second in-command approached her side. "We good to go?"

"So far."

"This is a game changer."

"Let's hope we never have to use them... Hold the perimeter, stay on comms."

Farrah approached a woman coming out of the gate as it opened and embraced her.

"Farah."

"Dena, it's good to see you. Is your mother well?"

"She's a fighter, like you. Come."

She gestured ahead and they both made their way inside the port. They climbed into a car inside the gate to make their way through the massive stretch of ships and containers.

"I did everything you asked. Your containers are secure, and port is empty except for us."

"And the harbor?"

"Closed since yesterday." She paused. "Farah, I know this is not my business, but this cargo must be very important... powerful."

Farah looked at her as she spoke. "It is."

"After all these years, Urzikstan finally has peace again. We are living our lives. Please..." She grabbed Farah's hand. "Do what you must to keep it that way. We're all with you."

Farah squeezed, and smiled, "of course."

Dena returned the smile. "Your containers are- "

A bullet shot through the windshield and Dena slumped forward in the driver's seat.

"Dena? Dena!!" Farah grabbed the wheel and tried to get the car under control, but they slammed into a concrete barrier, flipping onto the roof, and the world went black.

Her ears were ringing, and her head was throbbing. She slowly came to, and pushed up off the ground from where she was thrown out of the vehicle. A familiar voice rang in her ear. "This is Echo 3-1! Troops are in Contact! Kilo's vehicle is down!"

She coughed and continued to rise.

"I say again, Troops are in the open—taking effective fire from multiple locations."

"Shadow-1 copy, hold your position. Kilo do you read me? Farah, do you copy?"

"This is Kilo. We were ambushed. Dena is KIA..."

"It's Konni. They're everywhere, commander."

"They're going for the missiles!"

"We can't let that happen Farah..."

Laswell and the 141 were assembled in Nikolai's remote hangar in Copenhagen. They had shuffled the building around to operate as a makeshift base for the short-term while they figured out their next move. Soap sat with his leg on a second chair, Price and him patched up thanks to Laswell's medical team in Chicago, and Hex, who was herself looking better and better each day. Gaz was seated across from them along with Ghost and Price, and Laswell leaned on the edge of the table. "AQ... Cartel... Russians... They got past us."

Price continued her list "Shepherd... Shadow... They had a head start. I told you I'd tie the loose ends. We'll get to work."

She nodded in response, still deep in thought.

"Any sign of Shepherd?"

"Totally off the grid."

"We'll find him."

The team looked around to each other in agreement. This would be their biggest challenge yet, but all they've gone through has shown that they were up to the task. Soap and Hex were practically healed up, Hex and Ghost seemed to finally be working out their differences, and Gaz was solid as a rock. With Price and Laswell at the lead, their enemies didn't stand a chance.

"We've got bigger fish than Shepherd. I did some digging on the Russians. Ultra-nationalists ambushed that convoy. There are more missiles out there, and they're working with someone new."

She tossed a photo onto the table. Everyone moved to look and froze.

"He's not new..."

"Who is he?"

"Makarov."